During the Covid-19 crisis, organisations and institutions working on the inclusion of vulnerable youth faced multiple challenges and their work was extremely important in this context. However, due to the health crisis, the debate on the inclusion of many (youth) groups disappeared from the public radar. E-learning, closure of public spaces, absence of extracurricular activities, etc. were general measures put in place to cope with the crisis, but they have further highlighted that there are groups of young people at risk of exclusion who do not find the necessary support to meet their needs, and who require the assistance of organisations and professionals with a wide variety of profiles and competences.
With this background, the project “IDEA – Intersectoral Dialogue, Empowerment and Actions for Youth Inclusion in Europe” funded by the European Union and its Erasmus+ programme was born. Its promoters are committed to intersectoral dialogue to promote and increase the visibility of a more inclusive society. However, interacting between entities from different fields of inclusion is not a common procedure due to psychological, practical and systemic barriers, as well as the variety of beneficiary groups served. Therefore, the aim of IDEA is the exchange between sectors at local and transnational level in the field of youth, non-formal and formal education that allows to foster the inclusion of the most disadvantaged young people through the development of multidisciplinary entities with commonalities but diverse experience.
Benefits of the project for organisations and their staff
The entities that join the project, as well as their staff and volunteers will be able to:
- Take part in study visits and transnational activities financed by the project with the aim of getting to know how work is done in each of the project countries.
- Be part of a network of organisations with different fields of action that develops a set of inclusive working methods and contributes to a more respectful public discourse.
- Join an international consortium of partners with whom we intend to explore new joint European lines of projection and funding for both transnational and local actions.
- Participate in the exchange of experiences, good practices and inter-sectoral cooperation between organisations to improve their programmes and services to young people, as well as the professionalisation of the teams that manage them.
- Share, adapt and disseminate good practices and guidelines based on the wide range of experiences of the transnational network that the project will generate with organisations from all participating countries.
- Contribute to the joint development of a methodology and practice guide to inspire youth professionals in the field of inclusion.
Planned activities
IDEA will carry out various actions funded by IDEA for participants such as:
- Networking in the participating countries and at European level for needs assessment and exchange of methods on inclusion in the youth field (“Inclusion Platform”).
- Study visits for volunteers and staff to learn about different approaches and entities in the field of youth inclusion in Slovakia and Austria.
- Guidelines and workshops for “young journalists” on how to deal with information and how to communicate about inclusion in an appropriate way.
- Two international training courses for volunteers and staff of organisations in Romania and Spain, enabling the development of pedagogical materials and working tools for the youth sector.
- Development of a cross-sectoral methodology tools manual.
- Communication actions, visibility events and campaigns to disseminate results.
How to join the project and benefit from its activities
Contact the Neo Sapiens team to become part of the project’s network of entities and take part in all its funded activities.
The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the content, which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Dates: 01/03/2022 to 01/09/2024
Partner entities:
- • To establish cross-sectoral inclusion networks that allow for the exchange of experiences and good practices.
- To promote youth participation and inclusion.
- To train professionals and entities in the youth field in the incorporation of inclusive methodologies in their way of working.
- • To develop a cross-sectoral methodology that adapts to different inclusion environments, test it and draw conclusions in order to develop a manual of inclusive methods.
- To give greater visibility to the issue of inclusion in public discourse.
- • To ensure the visibility of certain youth groups at risk of exclusion or in situations of vulnerability through participation in different communication channels and with the help of young journalists and media representatives.
- • First transnational online coordination meeting (May 2022).
- • Creation of a national consortium or platform composed of entities working in youth work or promoting inclusive measures for a civil society group. (June 2022 to October 2022)
